Doug helping the family cross Cherry Creek

Cute little hiker

Starting line of "This is the Race"

The end of the race. Grandpa Pugsley looks exhausted after that long run!

Ethan, Jarom, Grandpa

A decade old
Nick, Jarom, Ethan, Juliana

The Birthday Hike
Ethan, Derek, Nick, Juliana, Jarom

Phil and Juliana on a hike


Jarom, Jenicca, and Juliana at Willow Flat Campground

Scout camp staff member Josh. (Allergies stink when you are

trying to pose for a picture.)

Flowers from the yard.

July

We got over the swine flu after 7 - 10 days. It is great to feel healthy again.

Highlights this month:
Babbitts came to vist the first week of July. We celebrated Ellie's fourth birthday, played dodge ball, had a camp fire in Karen and Doug's back yard, sang old camp songs and school songs, went on a hike in Richmond up Cherry Creek Canyon, watched fireworks in Logan, had a barbeque and badmitton tournament (Winners -Phil and Kennedi), and the kids had fun with sparklers for the fourth of July.

Griffeths came to visit. We went swimming, went out to eat, roasted marshmallows, had fun visiting.

We went camping up Cub River Canyon at Willow Flats. We had fun hiking up to the spring. It was beautiful up there. Josh is working at the scout camp just over the hill. It was fun to have April and kids, Gretchen and boys, Christina and kids, and Grandma Ila come up to visit. We went on a hike with 14 children. Thirteen of them under the age of 10. We crossed two bridges and saw several small water falls. Phil brought his water filter for back packing trips, and we drank from the spring. It was nice and cold.

We celebrated Jarom's 10th birthday on Friday. He wanted to go on a hike and have a picnic. He invited his friend from school and his cousins, Ethan and Nick. We came home and went to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Hale and Great Grand Dad at Bluebird. Grandma and Grandpa Pugsley met us at our house to have cake and ice cream and open presents. The Fullmers came too. Our town celebration was this weekend, and they did fireworks that night. Pretty fun to have fireworks on your birthday!! We could see them great from our backyard. It was a fun day.

On Saturday the town had a 1 mile race and 5k. Jarom ran the mile. He came in 8th place. Ethan was in 4th. Karen and Doug did good too. Doug came in 3rd place overall at the 5k and Karen came in 2nd place in her division. She ran that in less than 26 minutes!! I thought that was great.

I went to Salt Lake at 8:00 a.m. for a fun girls day with my sister-in-laws and Phil's mom. We had a great time. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory for lunch then went up to Park City to do some shopping at the outlet stores. We also went to Tai Pan. It was nice to get away for the day.

Hikes, Moose, and Swine Flu

It has been a long week! Josh is a camp counselor at Aspen Ridge Boy Scout Camp this summer. Last week was the first week/staff week. He was supposed to be there until Saturday, but we got a call on Thursday that he was sick and needed to come home. He rested and started to overcome the stomach flu symptoms but then started in with respiratory problems on Saturday. Phil and Jenicca went on a overnight backpack trip up High Creek with the young women on Friday and Saturday. They came home Saturday afternoon. Phil was very sick on Sunday (Father's Day) with aches, fever, cough, sore throat, loss of appetite, etc. I took Josh back to scout camp that night with the rest of the kids to let Phil rest. Josh still had a bad cough and congestion, so he took some medicine with him up to camp.
On the way up the mountain we came around a curve and there was a moose running down the middle of the road. We followed behind it for a long time. It did not want to go off the side, and we did not dare pass it. It was running very fast. The moose finally went off to the left side of the road to go onto an open grassy hill side, but there was a barbed wire fence that it crashed into and was caught on. We pulled over to the right, along with the car behind us, not really knowing what to do. We didn't want the moose to be hurt and stuck on that fence, but we didn't want it to hurt us either. It somehow broke free of the fence and ran up the hill. It was crazy!
I wish we would have kept Josh home instead of taking him back to camp. I did not realize then that on Monday Jarom would get flu symptoms, and I did too. Phil continued to get worse and could not work. We are still sick, and I ended up picking Josh up from camp again last night. It appears we have swine flu. Each of us have lost 5 pounds and poor Jenicca is scared to death she is going to get it. I took the boys to the doctor today. Jarom has an ear infection along with the flu, and Josh will just have to wait it out. Phil's lungs sound bad. They gave him an inhaler, and a chest x-ray order he will use tomorrow if he is not improving. Not a great way to start summer, but hopefully this will be over soon. They say it can last 7-10 days. Our fevers have finally subsided, now we will try to get over the aches and nasty cough. I was able to get some Tamiflu for the girls so they wont get as sick.
Phil is supposed to go to India next month for a couple weeks, so we need to get him well before then.

Orlando

Jenicca and I had fun in Orlando with mom and dad (grandma and grandpa). We went to Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Kennedy Space Center, and drove a short drive to find the Orlando Temple. It was very hot and humid for most of the time, but we were happy to see clouds and feel a strong breeze the last night we were there. We had a great time and wish it didn't have to end so soon. It was nice of mom and dad to let us intrude on their vacation. Dad had an IASA convention earlier in the week. We flew in on Wednesday after the convention was over to play.

Happy Birthday to Phil

Phil is so lucky to still be in his 30's! (One more year) We had birthday cookies instead of cake. He is almost done at Utah State, finishing up his Masters. The last class ends June 5th. He will be so glad when the stress lessens. With school, bishopric, work and family, he might make it through before a mental breakdown occurs.

Piano, Violin, and Cello

This has been the month for recitals and concerts. Jarom started playing the cello this year. The concert at his school was very good. I really admire his orchestra teacher. She knows how to get those kids to play together and it sounds great.

Jenicca memorized "Moon River" for her piano recital. She also played a part in a quartet piece. She did very well. I am impressed that she can memorize like that. I have tried to memorize piano music. I cannot do it. I need to have the music in front of me or I draw a blank.

Joshua's ninth grade orchestra was very impressive this year. I especially liked the Mozart number they played. I wanted to get a picture of him in front of his school, since this is his last year there. Can you tell he is almost too cool to get his picture taken by his mom? I had to be sneaky and quick.

I am so pleased with their progress this year in music and in school. Joshua and Jenicca both have a 4.0 grade point average. They are bright, talented, and good kids. They make my life more fun.

Pioneer Day

Jarom's fourth grade class had Pioneer Day today. They did a variety of activities like making butter, quilting, pioneer games, making medicine bags, making ice cream in a bag, dutch oven cooking, making bread, and for the grand finale they had a square dance. I helped the kids make homemade icecream. It was very fun.

Some of the boys and girls were not very excited to square dance, but one of Jarom's best friends is a girl in his class. They had a fun time dancing (as is evident by the picture). One boy asked the teacher's aide if she would hurry and break his leg for him so he wouldn't have to dance.
Do you want to make ice cream?? You need 2 quart size ziploc bags and one gallon size bag. In one quart size bag add 1/2 cup whole milk, one Tablesoon sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Get the air out of the bag and zip it closed. Put that bag into the other quart size bag and zip tightly. Place that into the Gallon ziploc. Add 4 cups crushed ice and 4 Tablespoons rock salt. Get the air out of the bag and seal. Shake, knead, and massage bag for 5-8 minutes until you have a soft ice cream. Yum.